"Nux." She called out. "What are you hiding?" She questioned directly. "What are you talking about?" Nux tilted his head in confusion, Felberta however, continued to stare at him, waiting for him to explain on his own. Something didn’t make sense. From the beginning, everything Nux did, he did it for his wives. Even when he had a goal, it was nothing more than a stepping stone to achieve his ultimate goal—to spend time with his wives for Eternity. The women knew that because they had the exact same goal. Everything they did all this time, it was all done to create a safe haven for Nux and them, a haven they could spend Eternity in. And right now… They already had such a haven. Sure, it had its own disadvantages, and Nux, who wanted to make everything perfect for his wives, wanted to deal with those disadvantages. This was the reason he was still fighting. But… To not give up even when all of them—to even play such tricks with Amaya, just so he could leave. It went against Nux’s character. Something didn’t make sense here. Nux… He was hiding something. And with how desperate he seemed to be acting, Felberta could tell this was something important. So the first wife continued to stare at her husband, waiting for him to answer. Under that stare, Nux couldn’t hold out for long, and after a little more hesitation, once he confirmed that Felberta had no plans on giving up unless he told her everything, he gave in instead. "The Eternity we dreamt… We might not have achieved it." Nux answered, and the moment he said those words, Felberta and the other women who could still listen stared at him with frowns on their faces. "What do you mean?" Felberta questioned. "It… it is just an instinctual feeling, I cannot explain it…" "What feeling?" Felberta narrowed her eyes. Nux paused for a moment as he observed all his wives, then, he looked at the vast Universe he was in and, "Our Universe is dying." "What…?" The women widened their eyes in disbelief. Nux, on the other hand, instantly went to calm them down, "Again, this is just an instinctual feeling, there is a chance that I am wrong." "But there is also a chance that you are right." Thyra spoke up, and Nux… he nodded at her words. "Why do you think that?" Felberta questioned. "Even if it is just a feeling, no matter how minuscule, there must be a reason behind it, no? What is it?" "The very existence of our Universe makes me uncertain." Felberta tilted her head in confusion and Nux began, "At first, I was incompetent, I didn’t know anything. The possibility of having a separate, independent Universe inside me excited me—it made me feel strong—but… As I grow, the more I learn, the more I realize that our Universe… It shouldn’t exist." The women narrowed their eyes, attentively listening to his words. Nux looked around and continued, "I felt it before, but at that time, I didn’t think too much about it. But now, I am slowly realizing the truth." "The truth?" "The fact that our Universe, in theory, should not exist. Usually, a Universe is formed when a Timeline branches. Every time a being from a Universe travels through Time and survives, he creates an entirely different Universe with a different ’Time’. This is what other Universes are. But that is not the case for our Universe. Our Universe didn’t even have a ’Time’ till now. In theory, it shouldn’t exist." "But it does." Eisheth spoke out loud. "So that ’theory’ is wrong. What is there to worry about?" "There is no ’meaning’ to our Universe, Eisheth. We are completely out of the Loop. All the Universes in the Multiverse have a Timeline, a Timeline that is already fixed—from the start of the Universe to its end, all the events that are supposed to play out are marked. But… We are an exception. Our Universe has no predetermined Future. It is something that should not exist, something out of the order of the Multiverse. How long do you think it will last?" "I… do not know…?" Eisheth tilted her head in confusion. "I do not either." Nux answered. "I just… feel that if I do not complete our Universe soon, it might fall out of existence." "But that…" Felberta wanted to say something, but she couldn’t. She realized she couldn’t counter Nux’s words. This feeling of his—it might even be his Universe’s way of warning him. They couldn’t just ignore it. "So this is the reason you wish to gather all the Primordial Energies and complete your Universe." "That is correct." Nux nodded. "I wish to survive, together with all of you, and I will do everything in my power to make it happen." "Why didn’t you tell us before?" Thyra questioned, not liking that Nux was keeping secrets from her. "I didn’t know how to. I still cannot explain it and I did not wish to worry you. All of you should focus on getting stronger—that is the only way you can help me." A wide grin then appeared on Nux’s face and, "Just imagining myself being protected by my seventeen Infinity-Level Wives as my enemies cower in fear makes me wish to live that moment right now." The women smiled as well. Nux was right, just imagining that scene made them feel butterflies in their stomachs. It was quite a beautiful feeling. They all wanted to protect Nux from his enemies for once. "Alright then," Suddenly, Thyra spoke up. "Let’s leave." She declared. "Hmm?" Nux tilted his head. "Let’s return to the Main Universe." The cat raised her voice. "It doesn’t matter what the Theory says, it doesn’t matter if our Universe should exist or not. The only thing that does matter, Is that none of us are going down without a fight." Thyra then stared at Nux with her piercing blue eyes and repeated her words, "None of us." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺 Nux’s smile widened, he nodded back and once again, The Leander Family returned to the Main Universe. And this time, they had plans of a much, much bigger scale.